Book review

Family, Commerce and Religion in London and Cologne: Anglo-German Immigrants, c.1000-c.1300

Bjorn Weiler

University of Wales at Swansea

Joseph P. Huffman's Family, Commerce and Religion in London and
Cologne: Anglo-German Immigrants, c.1000-c.1300 (Cambridge 1998)
is the most recent contribution to a burgeoning field of historical
scholarship, i.e. the study of Anglo-German relations in the Middle
Ages. Over the last fifteen years a number of studies have appeared
on the subject. Amongst the most important are Natalie Fryde, Ein
mittelalterlicher deutscher Grossunternehmer: Terricus Teutonicus de
Colonia in England, 1217-1257 (Stuttgart, 1997), Theo Holzapfel,
Papst Innozenz III., Philipp II. August, König von
Frankreich, und die englisch-welfische Verbindung 1198-1216 (Frankfurt/Main,
1991), T.H. Lloyd, England and the German Hanse, 1157-1611
(Cambridge, 1991), and Dieter Berg, England und
der Kontinent: Studien zur auswärtigen Politik der anglonormannischen
Könige (Bochum, 1987). Nonetheless, Professor Huffmans is the
first attempt in English to provide a detailed investigation of the
subject centred on the economic and social interaction between Cologne
and London. Particular emphasis is given to emigrants and families who
were distinguished by their role in arranging, or in profiting from,
relations between Cologne and the English realm. In many ways, the Rhenish
metropolis lends itself to this approach. Its economic significance
remains undisputed, and the political clout of its archbishops made
the city a frequent agent and go-between in Anglo-German relations.
In 1066, for instance, the archbishop had been instrumental in securing
the diplomatic 'back-up' for William of Normandy's conquest of England.
In 1198, they secured the necessary support, when Richard the Lionheart
decided to promote the candidacy of his nephew, Otto of Poitou, for
the German throne, and in 1256 Archbishop Conrad of Hochstaden had enlisted
the votes needed to facilitate Earl Richard of Cornwall's election as
King of the Romans. Although this has long been recognised, Professor
Huffman's chosen focus on the foot-soldiers of Anglo-German exchange,
the merchants, clerics and adventurers, promises to shed new light on
the technicalities and the personnel of economic and social exchanges
in medieval Europe. For these reasons it merits close attention.

The book is divided into three sections. A number of shorter chapters
deal with the material framework of economic exchange, the history of
trade between London and Cologne, the latter's declining influence in
the course of the thirteenth century, and a history of currency exchange.
Special emphasis is paid to the legal status of Germans in London from
the eleventh century onwards, as well as the location and history of
the London Guildhall, the 'trading post' initially for Cologne, but
increasingly for German merchants in general. This introduction to the
economic background is rounded off by an investigation of currency exchanges
between England and Germany, and in particular the role of the sterling
as a Leitwährung in medieval
trade, as well as the standard for designing coins and currencies, including,
it would seem, a rather profitable forging-industry which sprung up
in the Rhineland during this period. In the second part, Professor Huffman
presents two case-studies, one of a number of Cologne families who seem
to have originated in England, and their economic fortunes during the
thirteenth century; the other that of the Zudendorps, a Cologne family
who were not only active in economic exchanges between Cologne and England,
but who also acted as envoys and diplomats during much of the thirteenth
century. Particular use is made of the Schreinsbücher,
a set of legal documents outlining property transactions in thirteenth-century
Cologne, so far a largely untapped source. This picture is complemented
in part three by a survey of clerics whose careers spanned both the
English and the German realm, as well as the relics and saints who can
serve to illustrate the close cultural and religious connections between
the two regions. It may be worth pointing out, for instance, that St
Ursula was initially said to have been a British princess before being
martyred with her 10,000 companions near Cologne, where she became one
of the major attractions for medieval pilgrimages, including a visit
by no less a person than Margery Kempe. All in all, some of the major
elements of Anglo-German relations in the Middle Ages are dealt with.
Much of this centres on the thirteenth century. This is, however, the
result of the quantity and quality of material surviving from this period,
and is nonetheless useful in assessing developments which occurred since
the early eleventh century. As such, this book promises to fill an important
gap in the study of the medieval economy, as well as bringing together
German and English scholarship.

Unfortunately, Professor Huffman's study does not always live up to
these expectations. This is due to reasons which are not always entirely
within the authors control. Much of the chapter on the English in Cologne,
for instance, is little more than a list of property transactions. To
a large extent, this approach is conditioned by the sources available
to Professor Huffman - the Schreinsbücher
- but it also highlights some of the perennial problems in having to
rely primarily on legal and administrative materials for an investigation
of social developments. We learn very little about the families involved,
beyond what is revealed in these lists of property transactions. More
importantly, the fundamental methodological problem at the heart of
Professor Huffmans investigation - to what extent does the name de
Anglia or Anglicus denote
English origins, or simply close contacts with England - seems to have
defied a wholly satisfactory solution. What Professor Huffman does show,
however, is that sufficient evidence survives to suggest that English
emigrants did settle in Cologne, and, as far as their property transactions
imply, sometimes with considerable success. It is only in the final
part of study that the evidence allows the author to paint a more wide-ranging
picture when dealing with men such as Gerard Pucelle, a member of Thomas
Becketts entourage and close friend of John of Salisbury, who later
became one of the leading teachers of Canon Law in Cologne, or Bishop
Savaric of Bath, who utilised his relations with the Emperor and his
close access to Richard the Lionheart to secure himself an Episcopal
see in England. These are important elements in a picture, which may
not be familiar to many anglophone historians. However, it certainly
is not the major new contribution, which would encourage historians
to reconsider their basic assumptions as to what constituted medieval
Europe. That, however, is what Professor Huffman all too frequently
proclaims his book to be.

This leads to two major criticisms, the first one of posture, the second
one of approach and methodology. Professor Huffman promises more than
he delivers, and more than he can deliver. He is certainly right in
chastising the anglo-centric parochialism of much current medieval scholarship
not just in Britain, but in the English-speaking world as a whole, and
he is also correct in pointing out that medieval Germany was not a shadowy
and semi-barbarous entity somewhere east of Dover, but a major factor
in the economic, cultural and social development of medieval Europe.
Moreover, the present study possesses considerable merit, inasmuch as
it makes available substantial amounts of German scholarship to those
who do not take a professional interest in the history of either Germany
or Anglo-German relations. It also provides us with detailed facets
of what the so commonly acknowledged social and economic interchange
in medieval Europe meant in practice. For once, we do not see kings
and emperors negotiating, but merchants and artisans organising their
exchanges and careers. Unfortunately, Professor Huffman does not seem
to be content with this, and all too often he protests a degree of novelty
for his contribution which is not always justified. The present book
does not put forth a revolutionary new thesis or methodology, but applies
existing approaches in greater detail than has previously been the case,
while rarely departing from the well-trodden paths of historical scholarship.
Professor Huffman moves within parameters which have been established
for several generations, and they are rarely, if ever, questioned. By
and large, he is deepening rather than expanding the field of Anglo-German
relations. Neither the choice of his topic - economic exchange and social
mobility - nor the geographical framework which he is considering -
Cologne and London - go beyond what historians have been doing for the
last 120 years. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it contrasts
unfavourably with some of the rather grandiloquent claims put forth
in this book. Pointing out that the London-Cologne nexus was an important
one qualifies neither as a surprising nor as a new insight.

The second objection to be made follows from this. As Professor Huffman
rarely goes beyond the established framework, the focus of his investigation
often seems unduly limited. This refers not only to a general lack of
interpretation and analysis, but also to the methodological, geographical
and prosopographical focus chosen. There is very little in terms of
interpretation in this book, which for its most part is a list of property
transactions and excerpts from financial records. To some extent, as
has been mentioned earlier, this is the result of the sources at hand.
However, even so, not very much is done with these materials. There
is little reference as to their application beyond listing and citing
them. We are thus well informed, for instance, of the Zudendorp's economic
and diplomatic role, but we do not know where to place them. How were
they different from other families? How typical was their career as
merchant-diplomats in the thirteenth century? How do they compare to
other important families, either from Cologne or from elsewhere, as,
for instance, the family of the advocates and mayors of Aachen (who
attained a no less important role in facilitating diplomatic and economic
exchanges)? How do the actions and undertakings of Arnold fitz Thedmar
in London compare to those of the various English families registered
as being active in the Rhineland? There certainly are limits as to what
can be gleaned from the surviving records, but these are questions which
could and should have been addressed. As this has rarely been done in
any detail, much of the material unearthed by Professor Huffman remains
in an interpretative void and leaves the reader at a loss as to what
to do with it.

A similar problem is posed by the thematic, geographical and prosopographical
restrictions which Professor Huffman has imposed upon himself. There
are valid reasons, for instance, for concentrating on economic and social
exchanges, while leaving aside the political history of Anglo-German
relations. At the same time, an awareness of the political context within
which the protagonists of Professor Huffman's study acted would have
been helpful, and could have provided some of the analysis which the
book as a whole is often lacking. It may have been worth considering,
for instance, to what extent Cologne's declining significance in Anglo-German
economic exchanges from c.1230
onwards was mirrored in the shifting emphasis of Anglo-German diplomatic
contacts. Is there a connection between Henry IIIs diplomatic efforts
concentrating on the Emperor himself, rather than the German princes,
and a decrease in trading privileges for and other contacts with the
Rhenish cities? To what extent were the problems of the English families
and merchants in Cologne during the 1260s related to the increasingly
hostile relations between the Archbishop and Richard of Cornwall? These
are matters which would not have forced the author to veer from his
chosen field of enquiry, as they form part of the necessary background
to the activities and undertakings which he is exploring. After all,
the families considered by Professor Huffman merited their inclusion
in this book by their outstanding role in diplomatic as well as economic
exchanges. Certainly, even just highlighting the political parameters
within which they acted and the impact these had or may have had on
their careers would have been worth further consideration.

Similarly, English contacts with the medieval German empire outside
Cologne are mostly left untouched. This is certainly justifiable in
the context of a study on economic and social exchange between London
and Cologne, but, once more, at least some awareness of what else was
going on would have strengthened Professor Huffman's argument. In its
present form, the study does not go beyond the established assumption
that prior to the foundation of the Hanseatic League - Cologne, and
Cologne more or less alone, mattered in exchanges between England and
Germany. As a result, some rather important pieces of information have
been overlooked, even within the chosen parameters of Professor Huffman's
book. For instance, although the attempts of Henry III to marry a Bohemian
princess in 1227 are mentioned, as is the Bohemian envoy, Count Arnold
of Hückeswagen, Arnold's identity remains unresolved. This is regrettable,
as looking at this in more detail would certainly have underlined Professor
Huffmans point of the pre-eminence of Cologne, as well as the wide range
of men and people involved in economic and social exchanges. The Count's
family originated from Westphalia, where they held fiefs of the archbishop.
Arnold's father had frequently witnessed charters of Archbishop Adolf,
while Arnold's son and heir joined the chapter of St Pantaleon in Cologne.
Certainly, this would not have forced Professor Huffman to reduce his
coverage of Cologne in any degree, which could be deemed irresponsible,
but it would have broadened the range and scope of the material available
for analysis.

Equally, Professor Huffman's prosopographical focus is sometimes unfairly
restricted. Obviously, the nature of the sources will force any author
to concentrate on merchants and those whose actions and undertakings
were reported in financial or legal records. Nonetheless, a lot more
could have been accomplished even with the material at hand. In addition,
a number of sources survive which could have facilitated a broader coverage
of people and social groups. In the final part of his book, Professor
Huffman does cover some of the clerics and scholars who were involved
in exchanges between Cologne and London, and he also gives a brief survey
of religious relations, while parts of section two deal with artisans
from Cologne active in England. By and large, though, we are presented
with a list of contacts, little comparison, and no analysis. In addition,
even some of the materials, which could have been used to present a
broader picture, remain unexplored. Nicholas of Cologne, for instance,
a goldsmith involved in the production of St Edward the Confessor's
shrine at Westminster, is mentioned, but little effort is made to illuminate
the range of his activities, and what effort there is has been banished
to the footnotes. This is the more regrettable, as his would have been
an ideal example to illustrate the pitfalls and difficulties faced by
artisans in general, and presumably - emigrants in particular. After
all, we mostly know of Nicholas because King Henry III failed to pay
up. As a result, his requests for money, and the king's promises and
evasions, run like a red thread through several issues of the Liberate
Rolls. Similarly, the circumstantial evidence which could justify
speculations as to mercenaries from Cologne being employed by Simon
de Montfort at the battles of Lewes and Evesham is not even mentioned,
and although Professor Huffman does refer to the clerics whose careers
spanned both the English and the German realm, rather surprising lacunae
remain. Who, for instance, was the 'Magister Andelmus, natione Coloniensis'
whose consecration as archbishop of Armagh in Ireland is mentioned by
Matthew Paris? Certainly, he was potentially one of the most important
'German' emigrants to the dominions of the English king during this
period, and as such worth considering.

None of these omissions on their own would pose a serious criticism
of Professor Huffman's approach and coverage. However, taken together,
they underline the most serious weakness of Professor Huffman's investigation.
This study remains a worthwhile contribution, not least because it presents
the results and approaches of earlier generations of German scholarship
in English, and thus opens up this field to a wider audience. In addition,
some new materials have been found and presented, and a number of additional
sources have been mustered and examples found to illustrate the degree
of interaction between Cologne and England. As a whole, this study deepens
our knowledge of economic, diplomatic and social ties between the Rhineland
and England, and confirms what most historians have held be the case
already. At the same time, this is considerably less than what Professor
Huffman originally intended. This is the result both of an exaggeratedly
ambitious rhetoric, and of a failure to look beyond the established
confines of the subject. Nobody would have expected a complete coverage
of all contacts of any kind between Germany and England from the eleventh
to the early fourteenth century. Nonetheless, even with regard to Cologne
some important fields have not been given the attention they deserve,
and even within the context of social, religious and economic exchanges
between Cologne and London, this study could have profited from an awareness
of the broader framework of the events, institutions and topics it describes.
Germany, not to speak of the empire itself, does extend beyond
Cologne. Many opportunities for using the materials unearthed have been
left unexplored. On a more technical level, it would have been feasible,
for instance, to reduce coverage of the Zudendorps and the English in
Cologne, as both have been the subject of substantial articles by Professor
Huffman, and instead to present more of a comparative analysis. Thus,
Professor Huffman would have expanded and broadened our understanding
of the cross-connections and intersections between England and Germany
in particular, and within medieval Europe as a whole.